Category: Custom Cards

Scott Foster made NHL history last week when he played for the Chicago Blackhawks in Thursday night’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. He is the second emergency backup goaltender (EBUG) to be credited with ice time in an NHL game, and the first to be credited with making a save. Actually, he made seven saves, including stops on a Dustin Byfuglien slap shot and a shot by Paul Stastny from the slot.

Last season, Carolina Hurricanes equipment manager Jorge Alves suited up as an EBUG for the ‘Canes, played a mere 7.6 seconds, didn’t face any shots, and yet got a bunch of official hockey cards made by Upper Deck. Meanwhile, Eric Semborski was coincidentally an EBUG for the Blackhawks last season, and got two digital trading cards from Topps, though he didn’t play in the game.

So, where are the Scott Foster hockey cards? The guy actually appeared in an NHL game, which is the minimum criteria for getting an NHL card. Heck, he even used to stuff hockey cards of goalies in his skates for good luck. Foster might get a card from either Upper Deck or Topps later this season. But to tide you over until then, here are seven custom Scott Foster hockey cards — one for each save he made in his 14 minutes of ice time.

While sorting through a box of old hockey memorabilia, I came across this “custom card” that I made many years ago of Irwin the Penguin.

Of course, you have no idea who Irwin the Penguin is, so allow me to explain. Back when we were kids, Irwin was my sister’s favorite stuffed animal. One day during the summer of 1989, I decided to make a drawing of her toy penguin as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, since that seemed like an obvious team to put him on.

Have you ever wanted to create your own hockey card, but didn’t have the graphic design know-how to make that possible? I recently found out about Sportsnet’s Card Creator, a website where you can easily create your own free hockey cards in seconds.

The NHL held a celebrity hockey game, called the 2017 NHL All-Star Celebrity Shootout, prior to the All-Star Skills Competition on Saturday. Unfortunately, the game was only shown online, and while the webcast could have been so much better, the game was still fun to watch.

Singer, songwriter and pop icon Justin Bieber was among the celebrity hockey players, and while I am not a fan of his music, I will admit that he did very well for himself in the game. Bieber’s skating was solid, and though his slap shots left a lot to be desired, he drew a penalty, assisted on a goal and popped in an empty-netter at the end of the game.

So, I decided to make some custom Justin Bieber hockey cards, because he was arguably the most-skilled celebrity at the All-Star Celebrity Shootout.

Kent Simpson got lost in the shuffle. He played 20 minutes of one game for the Chicago Blackhawks on December 14, 2013 against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Had he done this a season or two prior, he would have had tons of rookie cards. But his 20 minutes of fame was halfway through the so-called “Double Rookie Class” year, where card companies could include any rookie from 2012-13 or 2013-14 in their sets for 2013-14. Thus, Simpson had a few high-end RCs in two year-end Panini products, while Upper Deck ignored him entirely. So I decided to fix that and create a few custom Kent Simpson rookie cards. Continue reading “Custom Cards: Kent Simpson”

1990-91 Pro Set Hockey Series One consisted of 405 cards. Included were cards of Owen Nolan and Petr Nedved, the first overall and second overall picks in the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. However, Pro Set missed out by NOT including fifth overall pick Jaromir Jagr or 20th pick Martin Brodeur. So I decided to make custom “Draft Picks” cards of these two players.

Other companies, such as Upper Deck and Score, included cards of Jaromir Jagr from draft day. The photo used above is actually taken from Jagr’s Upper Deck rookie card. Pro Set put out a card of Jagr, playing with the Penguins, in Pro Set Series Two later that year.

Martin Brodeur, on the other hand, never had a Pro Set card. Other than a five game call-up in 1991-92, Brodeur spent 1990 to 1993 either with his junior team or in the minors. For this custom card, I found this photo, which was taken soon after the New Jersey Devils selected Brodeur 20th overall.

Seeing as how utterly comprehensive Pro Set tried to be, I am surprised that they did not issue “draft day” cards of all 21 first round draft picks. That would have made for a nice snapshot of one of the deepest drafts in NHL history.

Question: Looking back 23 years later, who should have been the first overall pick in the 1990 draft: Jaromir Jagr or Martin Brodeur?